Wine and some other drinks of Tour de France 2017: Stage 17. La Mure — Serre-Chevalier

Another almost for Edvald Boasson Hagen. Three photofinishes, two second and two third places. I really hope he will win a stage.

Now the riders go into the Alps. Those who will take the yellow jersey from Chris Froome have to stages. This or the next one. It is not enough to take the advantage Chris Froome has, they must have a buffer before the not very long, but demanding time trial in Marseille.

Marcel Kittel is showing signs of fatigue before the Alps. Before the intermediate sprint today, they shall over a second category climb. I think we will see hard racing from Sunweb as they will try to secure more points for the polka dot jersey for Warren Bargueil, and drop Marcl Kittel before the intermediate sprint, som Michael Matthews can get some more points. The green jersey does not sit safely on Marcel Kittel’s shoulders.

Moiuntains mean that it is difficult to find wine. We visited wines from Savoie to stage 9. They are very good wines, and unless you are in the area for today’s stage, they are probably the closesd winws we can find.

A large part of the stage goes in the departement Isére, and we can go to IGP Isére and IGP Coteaux du Grésivaudan, at the sides of the Chartereuse massive. Here the grapes get a lot of sun, and there is a warm micro climate. They mainly produce red wine, but also rosé and white.

They are growing some traditional grapes in the area, which we will not find many other places. L’Etraire de la Dui is a red/black grape from Isére that gives a tanninic, fruity and a bit spicy wine. My sources says it goes well with game, but I have not tested the combination.

La Verdesse us a white grape from Isère. It gives a light yellow wine, high in alcohol.

Le Persan is a red/white grape ordiginally from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, but it is also grown in les coteaux du Grésivaudan. It gives a relatively tanninic wine which is sasid to go well with red meat, duck and goose.

When there are no wines to be found, we have to look for some beer. The riders will be crossing Col du Galibier. What can then be better than a beer from Brasserie du Galibier. It is in Valliore, which is the place the riders are riding down to from Col du Télégraphe, before they start the climb up to Col du Galibier. Their two beers Avalance and Alpine are both awarded three stars in Le Guide Hachette des Bieres, while their Matchut is awarded two stars.

If you like somethink sweet and strong, you can go for one of the classic liquers: Char­treuse. As far as I know, it is the stronges liquers produced, at least as long as we stick to liquers sold commercially. Grønn Char­treuse has 55% aslchol. It is made with 130 different herbs, and only two monks know the reciep. According to the producers, it is the only green liquer with natural colour. There is also a yellow Gul Char­treuse with 40% strenght. But the green is the better known.

Grand Atlas des vignobles de France

This is the kind of atlas I would like to have for all wine producing countries in the world. Good and detaield maps, with informative text. Could we wish for more? Some may wish for another laguage, as this is in French only.

When we are searching for beer, we have to use other sources of information.

Le guide Hachette des bières

This is a guide first and foremost, but not only to French beer. But it is a guide book to French beer this book is interesting in a Tour de France context. The authors have tested more than 1000 beers from 300 breweries. They have used a scale from 0 to 5. 0 is faulty beer. 1 is mediocre. These beers have not been included in the book. Level 2 are mentioned without a star. 3 to 5 are awarded 1, 2 or 3 stars. Dette er en guide først og fremst,

The book is not published every year. The most recent edition is from 2016.

Mountain High: Europe's 50 Greatest Cycle Climbs

If you, like me, want to know more about where they are cycling, particularly about the climbs, Mountain High: Europe's 50 Greatest Cycle Climbs by Daniel Friebe and Pete Goding is the book to have. The book covers 50 of Europe's greatest climbs, among them several of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia classics. We get description, history, technical details and stunning pictures.